GAME OVER, SUSIE? ‘Halo’ Legend Marty O’Donnell Stars in GOP Offensive Against Nevada’s Stock-Trading Democrat

Republicans are putting the man who helped create the soundtrack to one of the most famous video game franchises in history front and center in their campaign to end Democrat Rep. Susie Lee’s career in Congress.

The National Republican Congressional Committee released the latest installment of its “MAGA Majority” series Tuesday, featuring Republican NV-03 nominee Marty O’Donnell and his journey from composer and audio director behind the blockbuster “Halo” and “Destiny” franchises to small business owner and congressional candidate. The NRCC added O’Donnell to its MAGA Majority program in April as Republicans targeted Lee’s Las Vegas-area district as a top pickup opportunity.

“I’m running because Susie Lee has broken so many things in my district,” O’Donnell says in the video. “Susie Lee is a rubber stamp for the Democrat Party. She doesn’t care about people and their concerns with affordability.”

O’Donnell, whose unmistakable scores helped turn “Halo” into a cultural phenomenon, casts himself as a creator and entrepreneur accustomed to assembling talented people around a mission. His pitch is deliberately uncomplicated: Washington needs fewer professional politicians managing decline and more people who have actually built something outside the Beltway. Lee, meanwhile, has spent years giving Republicans an entirely different business résumé to talk about. O’Donnell is selling a record of creating hits. Republicans say Lee’s greatest hit is the buy-and-sell button.

Lee has the most extensive congressional trading history in Nevada’s delegation since taking office in 2019, with $10.52 million in reported stock purchases and sales, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. She previously failed to properly disclose more than 200 stock transactions worth as much as $3.3 million, according to Business Insider. Lee has maintained that she did not personally direct the trades, saying transactions were handled by an independent financial adviser or her former husband.

That caveat has not stopped Republicans from turning Lee’s Wall Street-sized trading history into a political cudgel.

“Marty O’Donnell built his career turning bold ideas into iconic work and delivering results,” NRCC spokesman Christian Martinez said. “Crooked Susie Lee treats Congress like her personal brokerage account, making millions off stock trades while Southern Nevada families struggle to afford groceries and housing. Marty will fight for working families. Susie Lee only fights for her own bottom line.”

The contrast is practically written for a campaign commercial. O’Donnell helped build “Halo,” ran businesses and moved to Southern Nevada after a career in entertainment. Lee went to Washington, and her household proceeded to accumulate a trading ledger more appropriate for a hedge fund newsletter than the financial disclosures of a congresswoman. Republicans have already made the issue central to their campaign against her, repeatedly highlighting the disclosure controversy as Washington debates restrictions on congressional stock trading.

More dangerous for Lee is where this fight is happening. Nevada’s 3rd Congressional District is no longer reliable Democrat territory. President Donald Trump narrowly carried NV-03 in 2024 even as Lee survived her congressional race by fewer than three percentage points. Reuters has identified the seat as one of the battlegrounds that could determine control of the House in November.

That means O’Donnell is not walking into some ceremonial Republican candidacy in deep-blue Las Vegas. He is entering a district that already voted for Trump, against an incumbent carrying years of Washington baggage, in a state where Republicans have steadily shattered the old Democrat political assumptions.

O’Donnell spent decades composing music for boss battles.

Now Republicans are betting Nevada voters are ready for the final level.

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